Purple Heart Homes builds accessible homes for disabled American veterans from all eras.
Communities have come together with Dale Beatty and John Gallina to form Purple Heart Homes with the belief that no veteran should be left behind.
Beatty and Gallina were both severely injured in 2004 in the Iraq War when their Humvee was blown up—Beatty lost both legs, and Gallina suffered severe head and back injuries—and when they returned from duty, they found their homes were not suited for their disabilities.
“Before I had a house that was accessible, I crawled around on the floor, or my knuckles scraped on the door every time as the wheelchair was going through,” said Beatty. He was lucky enough to have a community that cared for his well-being: people gathered to help modify his home to be accessible. This prompted him and Gallina to wonder about the types of homes other veterans were living in and whether they were being treated as kindly by their neighbors.
The two men formed Purple Heart Homes, a nonprofit organization, to help ensure quality-of-life solutions for disabled veterans.
“The community is key,” said Beatty. “They are the key hinge point between Purple Heart Homes and the veteran because when Purple Heart Homes is done with this project and we go on to the next one, this person’s neighbors are the ones who become their support system.”
But community involvement is only part of the picture: by providing their services, they are helping to change the way that people think about veterans–including the veterans themselves. Beatty said, “Some identify with John because of his PTSD injuries or traumatic brain injury, and that’s why they apply for our services.”
Gallina says, “When we have 20 or 30 people show up on a project that can say, ‘Scott, you are not different, you’re OK. Yes, thank you for your service, and we appreciate and we are here and we want you to be a part of our community,’ it makes a difference. It makes them feel as though they’re accepted. And that’s what true integration takes to feel accepted.”
Photo: Screenshot Yahoo News